Hagen, Lynn - Maverick's Mate [Brac Pack 1] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) (11 page)

Tank looked at the bathroom door, and his eyes saddened. He looked back at Cecil and smiled. “Don’t worry about it. Go upstairs to the right, last door on the left.”

“Thanks. Sorry.” Cecil slipped out before Tank could respond. He wondered who was showering and who Tank would have as company. He didn’t know his sexual preference. Was it a male or female?

Cecil was still pondering this as he ran into a wall. He fell to his butt with an
oomph
. He looked up to see Lonny sneering down at him. Just what he didn’t need. The little snitch would run right to Maverick and tell about his escape.

“I see you’re still in the habit of hall wandering.”

Cecil pushed himself to his feet, trying to go around the snake, ignoring him. He had a friend to find. Cecil didn’t have time to listen to this. He felt a hand grab his hair as his neck began to sting. He tried to cry out, but an icy hand covered his mouth.

Darkness claimed him.

Chapter Ten

Cecil woke with a pounding headache. He tried to rub his temples, but his hands were tied. How he had gotten like this? His brain still felt like it was in a fog. There was cold, damp earth beneath him. Where was he?

“You’re awake.”

Cecil raised his head to see two Lonny’s standing in front of him. Man, one was bad enough. He closed his eyes, trying to clear his head. When he looked again, only one stood. Thank goodness.

“I’m tired of seeing you throw yourself at the man I love. I wanted to kill you on the spot when I walked in his bedroom and saw him taking you. That should have been me! You should have heeded the warning when I poisoned you. You should have left. But
no
, you continued to throw yourself at my Alpha, making him feel sorry for you and keeping you here.”

Poisoned? Cecil thought it was the flu. Holy crow! Lonny wasn’t a snake. He was a psycho. The man didn’t have a few screws loose, they were lost.

“That’s okay. You had your fun turning my home into a juvenile playroom. It’s time for you to disappear. Maverick will get over you, with my help.” Lonny kicked him in his ribs. Cecil crumbled to his side, unable to catch himself with his hands tied behind his back, his cheek smacking dirt. He refused to cry out and give this snake the satisfaction of knowing he had hurt him.

Cecil was pissed. “Look, you psycho, he’s not your mate. He’s mine. Go find your own.” Okay, not exactly a tongue thrashing, but it would do. He looked around, trying to figure out where he was and how to get out of there. It looked like a tunnel. The walls were made of compacted dirt and tree roots jutted out, and only a lantern lit the dankness. How far away from home had Lonny taken him?

“This is an underground tunnel used hundreds of years ago by other pack members who lived in the area. It was used to conceal and torture rival pack members. So, you see, no one will be finding you anytime soon.” The crazy wolf actually cackled.

Unbelievable.

Why did Cecil get the feeling he was in a world of trouble? This was not good.

“I have to get back. When the search begins for you, I’ll need to be seen. Don’t think about escaping. These tunnels are a catacomb. You’ll be lost down here forever, and I won’t come looking for you. So if you want to eat, I suggest you stay put.” Lonny took the lantern with him, and Cecil watched the light slowly dim away. He was in total darkness. Cecil tried to let his eyes adjust, but there was absolutely no light to adjust to.

He scrambled to his feet, yelling for Maverick. His voice bounced off the dirt and died. No one was going to hear him. A noise shut him up. Cecil stopped and cocked his head, listening. Something ran across his bare feet, and he jumped back and screamed. Rats?

He knew if he didn’t make it out of here he would die. Waiting on Lonny wasn’t an option.

With his hands still tied behind him, he used his shoulder to feel his way along. Jagged tree roots and rocks cut into his arm. He felt the sting of broken skin. Sticking one foot out further as he slunk along, not wanting to fall over a cliff, if there was one. He had seen the movies and screamed at the screen as the idiots fell to their deaths. He wasn’t going to be one of those idiots.

With such extreme caution, it would take him forever to find a way out. His lungs hurt from the thick, dirt ridden air. Sweat ran down his face from anxiety and fear. He couldn’t even wipe it away with his hands. He had to use his shoulder, and then the sweat stung the open cuts on his skin.

He fell forward, having no way to cushion his fall without the use of his hands. Cecil felt the air leave his lungs as his chest cracked against the hard earth. He laid there, tears falling from his eyes. Giving up wasn’t on the table. He had to see his mate again.

* * * *

Maverick punched a hole through the wall. Where the hell was his mate? Tank said he saw him several hours ago trying to locate Johnny. Maverick and the rest of the Sentries combed the entire house.

Nothing.

He knew Cecil wouldn’t leave without at least leaving a note and taking one of the Sentries with him. Something foul was going on. Did the person who tried to poison him kidnap him? How? How did his mate disappear from his own home?

“FIND HIM!” Maverick roared out. He was becoming desperate. What if his mate was being harmed right at this moment, calling out for him? Maverick tore the house apart, tossing beds and tearing closets apart. This was getting him nowhere. He barked at three of his warriors to follow him.

Tank, Remi, and Cody followed him out back. “Search for track marks or any sign that he may have been taken outside. I want him found. Do it now!”

The three wolves scrambled to find anything that would help. Timber wolves didn’t have the best sense of smell, but Mother Nature compensated them by giving them superb hearing, night vision, and tracking abilities that superseded any other species. They could hear a leaf fall to the ground in autumn. They were the largest of the wolf breeds and were extremely territorial. They fought to the death to protect what was theirs, mate or land.

Cody found signs of disturbance in the grass. Broken blades, something no other would have seen. The grass was only bent the slightest, but enough for Cody to recognize the signs. “Alpha, over here.”

Maverick studied the area that Cody had pointed out, noticing the same signs. The track led off toward the heavily wooded area. “We hunt.”

All four men shifted into their wolf forms, heading into the night.

* * * *

Cecil was exhausted. How long had he been down here? A couple hours? Days? Time was not something that could be tracked in this darkened prison. He had been walking for what seemed like forever.

Dehydrated, hungry, in pain, and urine soaked, Cecil couldn’t go on. His feet were stinging and sore. He couldn’t even feel his hands anymore. The earthen wall had become his crutch. His muscles turned to jelly. Cecil feared stopping
—
he may not get back up again. His wrists felt like blades were cutting into them. He had tried for the longest to free his hands, only to do more harm than good.

Cecil tripped again, this time hitting his head against the wall. He felt a warm trickle down the side of his face. Trying to push himself back up, his body wouldn’t cooperate.
Rest for a moment.
He lay on his side, slipping into a fatigue filled sleep.

* * * *

Maverick found an entrance. It was well hidden behind years of overgrown foliage. He used his teeth and claws to clear the brush away. It was located on the side of a high rising hill. How had he never seen this before? More Sentries had joined them in their tracking until there were eight in all. He howled to the sky, alerting his pack of his discovery. He heard them racing toward his call.

When all had gathered, Maverick entered with his search party at his flank. They came into a chamber that branched into four different directions. Maverick shifted back into human form. “I want every wolf to pair up. It seems we are in some kind of catacomb. No one is to venture off by themselves. If you find anything, howl.” Maverick took Cody with him, one of the best trackers he had.

All four entrances showed signs of use, so they didn’t have a solid lead to follow. Maverick and Cody took the tunnel to the far right, their night vision making it possible to see in the pitch blackness. Maverick could feel them descending, going further down into the bowels of the earth.

He felt a ripple of pain throughout his entire body. He knew it was his mate, lost down here somewhere, hurt. He concentrated on the trail he was following. If he hurried his pace, he could lose it. Pulling patience from every cell in his body, he continued the slow trek deeper into the tunnel.

Maverick growled as he picked up a blood trail. It had to be Cecil’s. It was fresh. He followed the twists and turns as the blood drops turned into smears that turned into one long, unbroken thread. He spotted a small mound lying at the base of the dirt wall. Maverick shifted and ran to it, finding Cecil bloody and unconscious.

His head fell back and an agonizing howl ripped from his chest. He dropped to his knees, afraid to touch his mate. He didn’t know if anything was broken or what was torn. “Cecil, baby. Can you hear me?”

A whispered moan came from his mate. He could smell urine and blood. A sob escaped him.

Maverick gently reached down and pulled Cecil in his arms, cradling him to his chest. Cecil’s eyes remained closed. His mate’s hands were bound behind his back, Maverick turned him, seeing the piano-thin wire embedded in his skin. He would let the doctor remove it, not wanting to take a chance at hurting him even more.

Cody led the way back to the main chamber, the rest of the pack waiting. Howls and barks rent over the walls at seeing their Alpha’s mate’s battered and bruised body.

Maverick took Cecil home, trying not to jostle him. The wolf physician was called once more. An IV was placed in Cecil for the dehydration. His wounds were cleaned and his wrists stitched.

Maverick watched over the doctor’s shoulder as Cecil’s marks were uncovered. He squeezed his eyes shut at the enormous purple bruise that covered his mate’s entire chest. His wrists looked like they had been sliced with a scalpel all the way around. He had numerous cuts and scrapes all over his body.

Some needed stitches while others were cleaned and ointment applied. After what seemed like forever, the doctor went to the bathroom to wash his hands. The entire pack was in Maverick’s bedroom, watching and waiting.

“He’s human, so he suffered more than a wolf would have. He has two broken ribs and a multitude of cuts and scrapes. His wrists were the worst. The wire tore through his tendons. He may not recover the full use of his hands. I have an IV going to rehydrate him quickly. I also have an antibiotic solution dripping with it as well. Humans are susceptible to infection. I’ll monitor him for the first twenty-four hours to make sure he’s healing properly. There isn’t much to do right now but wait.” The doctor excused himself.

Cecil’s lips were moving. Maverick leaned down to hear his mate. Usually he could hear with clarity, but Cecil was too soft-spoken, mumbling. He ordered everyone to be quiet.

“Lo…Lo…nny.” Cecil fell back into unconsciousness.

Maverick’s nostrils flared. His canines emerged, and his eyes shifted to crimson. “Lonny.” He growled as he left his bedroom to hunt the wolf. His entire pack gasped, unbelieving that one of their own could do such a horrific act.

* * * *

Tank and Cody searched for the wolf with a vengeance. Cecil had become like a little brother to both of them. Lonny was a dead man walking.

* * * *

Jasper had gone to Hawk, informing him of the betrayal. Hawk paced furiously, his mate sleeping comfortably in the bed. Jasper stepped back as Hawk’s six foot four bulk towered over his five foot nine frame. The man reminded Jasper of an ancient warrior. The elements seemed to move with every bulging muscle Hawk rippled. “Stay with my mate. Protect him with your life. Lonny dies tonight.”